


Fight a little longer, my friend ( It's all worth it in the end )

by HellaMysterious



Category: Life Is Strange (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Attempted Drugging, Depression, F/F, Gun Violence, No Storm in Arcadia Bay, Panic Attacks, Substance Abuse, Suicide Attempt, Violence, and there are no consequences for using her powers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-15
Updated: 2017-12-15
Packaged: 2019-02-14 16:10:13
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 16,660
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13011384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HellaMysterious/pseuds/HellaMysterious
Summary: Max pulls back, but keeps her hands on Chloe’s sides. “I know where she is.”“H-how?” Chloe stutters, eyes wide and brows furrowed in confusion.“Because I’ve been helping her.”---Or, Max travels back one last time to try to save everyone she couldn't before.Unfortunately, the plan she has requires leaving her best friend in the dark, and Chloe is left wondering why everyone in her life keeps disappearing.Yes, there's Amberprice. I promise.





	Fight a little longer, my friend ( It's all worth it in the end )

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place roughly two weeks before Chrysalis. And there was/is no storm, just a lot of hell going on in Arcadia Bay. Be aware that there are tons of spoilers from both Life is Strange and Life is Strange: Before the Storm. I kept a lot of the same story line, but there are quite a few things that are different, as well.

Wind is whipping through her hair; rain is beating against her face and soaking through her clothes as she stands at the edge of the cliff.

She’s not quite sure how she got here; the journey to the lighthouse is a blur. But, then again, she vaguely remembers anything after downing half a bottle of vodka in the junkyard. 

It's still in her hand, and probably watered down by now. She nurses on it every once in awhile, but her senses are so numb she can barely taste it anymore.

She’s glad she accidentally left her phone back at the hideout, because that definitely would have drenched by now, too. Not like she really cared. It’s not like anyone important tried to get ahold of her, anyway.

The water down below is inviting, almost taunting her to come and join it in its path to destruction as its waves crash against the rocks with vigor.

Chloe wonders if it would be quick and painless. 

She wonders if she would regret it on her descent.

Probably not. 

There’s nothing keeping her here anymore. She lives in a damn shack in the middle of a junkyard for fuck’s sake.

David would probably be glad to finally get rid of her. All he ever does is complain about how much she’s hurting her mother by not wanting to abide by his shit rules.

Chloe and her mother were doing just fine before he came around and started barking orders like he owns the place.

He’s not her dad, and he never will be

No one could ever replace him.

Chloe takes another sip from the bottle and closes her eyes.

She thinks about Rachel. 

She always fucking thinks about Rachel.

Not a moment goes by that she doesn’t think about her hazel eyes and blonde hair, and her damn smile.

The smile that won Chloe’s heart.

She would give anything in the world to be able to go back in time to the night Rachel saved her stupid punk ass and swept her away from those skeevy guys that wanted to punch her teeth in.

If only she’d known what the outcome of their relationship was going to be. 

If only she’d known that Rachel was going to disappear, just like everyone else in her fucked up life. 

She was stupid to think Rachel was going to be any different. That she was actually going to run away with her. That she was actually going to throw her whole life away to be with a shitty high school dropout.

Her hand clenches at the bottle tighter.

She brings it up to her mouth one last time and raises her arm over the edge before she watches it drop. It shatters against the rocks and it’s swallowed up by the raging sea. 

Chloe balls her hands into fists and looks up to the sky.

Tears sting her eyes and threaten to fall as she screams into the night, cursing Rachel and everyone else who has abandoned her.

Her gaze shifts back to the depths below.

It’s time.

She moves closer, hoping the dirt underneath her feet will give way and make this easier for her.

“Chloe, don’t,” a voice calls out from behind her. She thinks about turning to see who it is, but decides against it.

No one is going to be able to stop her.

“Fuck off,” she slurs out, her voice barely audible over the storm.

The voice is closer now, only a few feet away, “Chloe, please.”

It sounds vaguely familiar.

She looks over her shoulder and sees a small, skinny brunette with shoulder length hair that’s stuck to her face. She must have followed her up here.

It isn’t anyone she recognizes.

“The fuck do you want?” Chloe asks as she turns back around, staring out into the darkness.

“For you to step away from the edge.”

Who the fuck was she and why did she care so much?

How did she know her name?

It didn’t matter.

She takes a deep breath and gets ready to jump, but before she has the chance to step out into the void, someone is grabbing her arm and forcing her to the ground.

It happens so quickly, she’s unable to put her arm out to break her fall and her head slams into the mud.

Everything starts spinning and she’s unsure if it’s due to the hit or the alcohol.

Chloe closes her eyes and waits for it to stop.

And when she opens them again, the girl is hovering above her.

She looks like an angel; like someone she once knew.

But it couldn’t be her, because she was long gone. She was off living her life happily without Chloe by her side, unlike what she promised multiple times.

She disappeared right after her father died and she was never to be seen again.

“Chloe, it’s me.” The girl is crying now, and shaking violently as the wind picks up once again. “It’s me, Max.”

No.

It couldn’t be.

This was just a dream. A stupid, unrealistic dream.

It has to be.

The girl grabs Chloe’s hand and brings it up to her cheek, allowing her to feel every feature on her perfect face. It’s exactly how she remembers it, just older. But there’s a new darkness behind her magnificently blue eyes.

“Max?” Chloe whispers, moving a strand of Max’s tousled hair out of her face. New tears spring to her eyes, but she hastily blinks them away before they have a chance to fall.

Something boils up in Chloe’s stomach and ignites her bones.

She pushes Max off of her and struggles to sit up.

Her head is pounding, but she doesn’t care.

How _dare_ she.

How dare she think it’s okay to come back into her life like this after years of not even bothering to check up on her.

She didn’t have the right anymore.

She didn’t have the right to care.

They weren’t best friends, or even friends for that matter.

Max gave up the right to care the day she moved away.

“Leave me the fuck alone,” Chloe growls as she rises to her feet. She starts making her way down the path, but she doesn’t get far before a hand is on her arm once again, turning Chloe around to face her.

“No.” Max shakes her head, “Chloe, you almost-”

“Why do you care?” She interrupts. Her fists clench at her sides as she struggles to hold herself back from pushing the girl in front of her to the ground. “Where were you when I needed you five years ago?”

Max retracts her arm and opens her mouth to say something, but nothing seems to come out. Nothing Chloe can understand, anyway.

“I fucking _needed_ you, Max, and you weren’t there for me.” Chloe’s crying now, and she silently curses herself for not being able to keep it together. She’s supposed to be angry. She’s supposed to be telling Max to fuck off and go to hell, but the words never form. “The only person who was actually there for me is gone. She left, just like you and everyone else.”

“Rachel Amber?” It comes out as a question, but Max’s features confirm that she already knows the answer.

“How the fuck do you-“

“Rachel didn’t want to leave you, Chloe.” Max’s hand is back on her arm, her fingers rubbing gentle circles on her skin, and it’s short circuiting her brain.

None of this makes any sense.

"You don't know anything," Chloe snarls, snatching her arm away from her grip, and turns to continue down the path.

“She was in danger,” Max shouts out before Chloe has a chance to take a step, freezing her in place. “Things…wouldn’t have ended well if she stayed.”

This is all becoming too much.

She’s not in the right state of mind to deal with any of this.

For all she knows, this could all be a fucked up dream.

Chloe’s knees buckle beneath her as the weight of exhaustion hits her at full force.

Luckily, Max is there to catch her before she falls.

 

* * *

 

 

Chloe wakes the next day in a bed she’s not familiar with, in clothes that aren’t hers and in a room that smells a lot like childhood memories.

“Fuck,” she hisses, grabbing onto her throbbing head with both hands. She kneads at her temples in attempt to ease the pain, but it doesn’t help.

Her eyes shift over to the dresser where notices a glass of water and a bottle of painkillers. Chloe eagerly swipes them up, pops a few in her mouth and silently thanks whoever left them there for her.

Before she has a chance to look over the room further, the door is swinging open and a girl emerges from the hall.

It suddenly hits her who this room belongs to.

Everything looks vaguely familiar.

She’s been here before.

She’s in Blackwell Academy.

Max’s eyes grow wide. “Oh, you’re awake.”

Chloe clears her throat. “Uh, yeah.”

After a long moment of intense silence, Chloe finally stands. It’s definitely a mistake though, because the pounding in her skull intensifies.

Fuck.

She crosses her arms and prays that the bile quickly rising in her throat doesn’t turn into a puddle on the floor.

Her body stiffens as she wracks her brain to figure out what exactly happened the night before. She can only remember bits and pieces.

Chloe standing on the edge of a cliff.

A hand grabbing her arm.

Max _saving her life_.

But what was Max even doing here?

When did she move back to Arcadia Bay?

Why didn’t Max tell her that she was coming back?

A lump forms in the back of her throat at the betrayal.

Did Max think that Chloe was going to forgive her for everything that she’s put her through just because she pulled her away from the cliff and prevented her from making a fucked-up decision?

If so, then it’s not going to happen.

“Don’t think I forgive you for not talking to me for five years just because you saved my life or whatever.”

Max swallows, her gaze dropping to the floor. “You don’t ever have to forgive me, Chloe. What I did was…fucked-up. There’s no excuse for it.”

Chloe sighs.

She doesn’t have the energy to argue.

Her head feels like it’s been beat in with a baseball bat, and she’s about to release the insides of her stomach onto the ugly blue carpet beneath her feet.

Going back to the junkyard and dwelling in her own self-pity is sounding pretty good right about now.

“Hey, thanks for letting me crash here,” she mumbles, her eyes cast downward as she rubs the back of her neck. It's in that moment that she notices that she’s still wearing Max's t-shirt and pajama pants. “I’ll, uh…return these clothes to you later?”

The clothes that she was wearing last night seem to be nowhere in sight. But they’re probably still drenched, anyway.

Max is just standing there, her lip quivering like she has something to say. Chloe waits, but the words never come.

She sighs and tries to move past, but Max’s hand stops her from leaving once again.

“Chloe, wait.”

_There is it._

“There’s…something I need to tell you.” Max is panicking. Chloe can feel it with the way the brunette’s hand is shaking against her bare skin. “Do you...” Max hesitates, pulling her hand away and crossing her arms over her chest. “Do you remember what I said last night, about Rachel?”

All of the blood rushes out of Chloe’s face at the mention of Rachel’s name.

Her heart feels like it’s about to beat straight out of her chest, not wanting to be contained by the cage of her ribs any longer.

Tears threaten to stream down her face.

Max apparently notices the change in her demeanor because not even a second later, she's wrapping her arms tightly around Chloe’s small frame. She inhales deeply and let’s out long, slow breaths through her mouth, and Chloe mimics the rhythm until she no longer feels numb.

Max pulls back, but keeps her hands on Chloe’s sides. “I know where she is.”

“H-how?” Chloe stutters, eyes wide and brows furrowed in confusion.

“Because I’ve been helping her.”

 

* * *

 

 

Chloe doesn’t know what to think.

Apparently Max had time traveling powers or some shit.

The key word is _had_.

She lost them after she went back for Rachel, who apparently went missing in a different reality, as well.

And not only was she able to use her hand to control her power, but she was able to use pictures, too?

 _God_ , this was weird.

Chloe’s head is in her palms. It’s throbbing more now than it was before.

None of this is making any sense.

How is she supposed to believe any of this?

Max has her hand on Chloe’s back, and she’s doing that thing again. The thing where she traces circles along her skin and all of the Chloe’s tension disintegrates under her touch.

It’s _distracting_.

“So, uh…” Chloe clears her throat. “You haven’t really explained what happened to Rachel.”

To be honest, she’s not sure she really _wants_ to know what happened. Not in the other timeline, anyway.

She can’t handle thinking about Rachel being in any kind of danger.

She can’t handle thinking about anyone hurting the one person in this world that she actually loves and cares about.

“Well.” Max sighs, her hand freezing in place. She hesitates and diverts her gaze, and Chloe’s heart starts to picks up its pace. Max crosses her arms over her chest and shifts away, making sure to put a good amount of space between them. “It’s, uh…” She whispers, curling in on herself. “It’s a little hard to explain. I think that’s something she should tell you herself.”

A shiver runs down Chloe’s spine when Max turns her head and their eyes meet for the first time since they’ve started this conversation.

The darkness is back.

It looks as if the life has been sucked out of her.

No longer do the pools of blue look warm and inviting, but more like the aftermath of a storm.

Somber and ominous.

Haunted by things Chloe will probably never even begin to understand.

Not if everything that Max is saying is true.

“I’ll explain everything once Rachel has the chance to tell you what’s going on.”

 

* * *

 

 

Chloe ends up staying the night, again.

But she regrets it when Max Caulfield wakes up practically screaming in the middle of the night and nearly gives Chloe a heart attack.

She stumbles out of bed and falls to the floor, and immediately brings her knees up to her chest.

Chloe is right there with her in the matter of seconds, but when she lifts her hand to touch Max’s shoulder, the brunette launches herself backwards as if she’s been burnt.

Her eyes are wide and filled with undeniable fear.

“Max…” Chloe tries, resisting the urge to reach out to her again, “Max, it’s me. It’s Chloe.”

It doesn’t work.

She’s still trembling and looking at Chloe like she’s some rabid animal.

“Max, look…” Chloe scoots a little closer, letting out a sigh of relief when Max doesn’t retract. “It’s me, I’m here. I’m alive.” She reaches for the brunette’s hand, slow and steady, and when she takes it in her own, Chloe brings it up to her face, allowing Max to feel the heat of her skin.

But it doesn’t seem to be helping

She quickly thinks back to some of the things Rachel would do when Chloe was experiencing a panic attack after having a strange dream about her father.

There’s a good chance that she might end up being punched in the face, but she goes for it anyway.

Chloe closes the distance between them and wraps Max in her arms.

“I can’t.” Max struggles, tears streaming down her face. “I can’t do it again. I can’t go back. I can’t...”

“Max, listen to the sound of my voice,” Chloe whispers, rocking gently as she hugs her tightly to her chest. “Listen to the way I’m breathing.”

She takes a deep breath through her nose and slowly exhales through her mouth.

Chloe repeats the process over and over again until Max’s breathing starts to even out and her tears reduce to faint sniffles.

After a while, Max’s body eventually goes limp in her arms, but Chloe still doesn’t let go. She won’t until she’s positive Max’s anxiety is gone.

“Can I tell you a story?” Chloe asks quietly, hoping it will help divert Max’s thoughts away from whatever happened in her dream.

She gently nods her head.

“When Rachel and I first met, Blackwell was putting on a play - The Tempest, I think. Rachel apparently did such an amazing job during her audition Mr. Keaton switched the gender of Prospero so she could take on the role.” Chloe grins, her heart swelling with pride at the thought. “Anyway, so, during the night of the performance, Juliet was late and Mr. Keaton was on the verge of having a meltdown, so Rachel came up with a _brilliant_ idea. She lied and said I was a good actress and made me cover for Juliet until she came. I almost slapped her, by the way.” Chloe laughs. “I had like, ten minutes to memorize all of the lines and I was forced to wear a fugly bird costume...”

She pauses when she hears a soft giggle coming from the girl in her arms.

“Well?” Max asks, turning to face her. “How’d you do?”

“I was hella amazing.” Chloe grins from ear to ear. “Had the whole crowd swooning over me. You should’ve seen it - they were all chanting my name when I came out to bow.”

Max laughs and slaps her arm, “You’re _hella_ full of shit.”

“Am not.” Chloe playfully pushes her back.

Max’s face slowly turns serious again. “Thank you, Chloe.”

“Anytime, Max.”

 

* * *

 

They don’t reach the junkyard until almost five.

Chloe originally wanted to go and get a few pairs of clothes while Max was in class, but she _insisted_ on going with her.

“C’mon, Caulfield, we’re burning daylight,” Chloe shouts over her shoulder as she beelines her way to the hideout.

“I’m pretty sure it’s not going to take you two hours to grab some clothes.”

They’re almost there when Max makes an abrupt stop. Chloe turns to see what she’s doing when she notices Max staring down a path not too far from the hideout. She looks to see what she’s staring at, but there doesn’t seem to be anything.

Her brows furrow. “What?”

“N-nothing,” She stutters. “It’s nothing.”

It sure didn’t _seem_ like nothing, but Chloe shrugs it off and keeps walking. She’s afraid to ask too many questions, especially with how fragile Max has been these past couple of days.

Chloe makes it to the hideout only seconds later, but she immediately stops in the doorway when she notices someone standing on the opposite side of the room, looking at the elephant tapestry hanging on the wall.

All she can do is stare at the blonde hair cascading down the girl’s back, over her red and black flannel.

She turns her head to look over her shoulder and Chloe’s eyes dart to her blue feather dangling from her ear.

No.

It can’t be.

Then the girl’s spinning around on her heels and Chloe’s greeted by the warmest, most beautiful smile she’s ever seen.

The smile she fell in love with all of those years ago.

Her heart is beating rapidly in her chest and tears are quickly forming in her eyes.

“You dyed it all blue,” Rachel says barely above a whisper, taking a step forward. “I like it, it suits you.”

Before she knows it, Chloe’s feet are moving at their own accord, and she’s practically running across the room.

And then Rachel’s in her arms

Rachel’s _finally_ back in her arms.

Her heart is leaping out of her chest and Chloe can’t contain her emotions.

She’s never cried this hard in her entire life.

And she’s never felt more _alive_.

Eventually, Chloe pulls back, but just enough to lift her hand and move a loose strand of hair out of Rachel’s face. Her cheeks are flushed and wet, and her eyes are red from crying, but she’s never looked more beautiful.

Chloe takes in every feature, running her thumb down her cheek, across her jaw line and to her mouth. She drags the pad of her finger across Rachel’s perfectly plump bottom lip and looks up back into her eyes.

And before she knows it, Rachel’s kissing her, and a new wave of tears make their way down the both of their cheeks.

It’s soft and passionate and full of _love_.

It’s electrifying Chloe’s soul and slowly bringing her back to life. The darkness and sorrow and hopelessness that she’s been drowning in all of these months are dissipating with every move of their lips, every gentle touch and every tear that’s shed.

And in that moment, she silently thanks Max for pulling her away from that cliff.

She thanks whatever higher power that gave Max the ability to rewind time.

She thanks the universe or fate or whatever it was that brought Rachel into her life.

With one last soft peck to Chloe’s lips, Rachel pulls away, and Chloe sighs at the loss of contact.

“W-when did you…” Chloe stutters, still at a loss for words. “How did you know…”

“How did I know you were here?” Rachel smiles, finishing her sentence for her, and Chloe nods her head. “A little birdie may have told me that you’ve been crashing here…and that you were coming by today to pick something up.”

Chloe’s eyebrows furrow. She opens her mouth to say something, but before anything has the chance to come out there’s a noise emanating from the doorway.

“Max!” Rachel all but shouts, removing herself completely from Chloe’s grasp. She watches as the blonde crosses the room and runs into Max’s arms. Rachel lifts her up and twirls her around once before she sets Max back down on the ground and pulls away.

“Hi,” Max says faintly, smiling as she looks Rachel over. “You look good. How’ve you been?”

“Well, I’m _alive_.”

A little pang of jealousy rises up in her stomach from watching the two act like they’ve known each other for years. And her heart sinks at the thought of them talking and seeing each other and actually being _okay_ with leaving Chloe in the dark all this time.

Chloe wipes off her face with her sleeve and crosses her arms over her chest.

“Thankfully, Chloe is, too,” Max whispers, and looks over to her best friend.

Rachel follows Max’s gaze and her brows furrow. “What do you mean?”

Chloe sighs, “It’s nothing.”

“I found Chloe up by the lighthouse the other day…standing on the edge of the cliff.”

 _Dammit, Max_.

Rachel clenches her jaw and closes her hands into fists, and Chloe knows this isn’t going to be good.

“Chloe Elizabeth Price,” Rachel growls, crossing the room in two long strides. “You fucking _promised_ me—“

“You _promised_ me that you weren’t going to leave,” she interrupts. Rachel’s face falters as she stops in front of her. Chloe’s eyes fall to the floor.

There’s a long, uncomfortable silence that follows.

“I didn’t…“ Rachel chokes out, shaking her head. “I didn’t have a _choice_.”

“Right.”

“Chloe, look at me.” She brings her hand up to lift Chloe’s chin, her eyes filled to the brim with tears. “I didn’t want to fucking leave you.”

“Then why didn’t you tell me?” A sob rips from her chest. “Why did you disappear without telling me where you were going?”

“’Cause I knew you’d do something stupid if I did!”

Chloe flinches and takes a step back.

“Chloe, no, that’s not…” Rachel sighs. “You don’t understand.”

“Then help me understand.”

Rachel nods and takes Chloe’s hand and leads her over to the makeshift couch. There’s not a whole lot of room, but they’re still able to leave enough space for Max to come and join them.

“Do you remember the night I caught you dealing for Frank?” Rachel asks quietly, and Chloe nods. “I never told you, but I ended up going to a Vortex party. I was just so pissed at you for doing something so incredibly dangerous and _stupid_ …I needed to go somewhere to clear my head.”

Chloe’s body stiffens. At the time, they had made a deal not to go to parties anymore. Not without each other, anyway. So the thought of Rachel going behind her back and doing it anyway stings to say the least.

“My plan was to get drunk and forget why I was ever mad at you.” Rachel sighs and looks away, obviously guilty about the betrayal. “I had a couple of drinks, and then Nathan came up to me out of no where.”

***

_The party sucks._

_She kind of figured it would when she found out it was going to be in the gymnasium._

_There are way too many drunk girls laughing and screaming and violently puking in every available garbage can._

_Rachel’s standing against the wall watching a few of the Vortex Club members play a game of chicken fight in the pool. Victoria’s perched herself on a chair a few feet away, arms crossed and head held high. Typical. Rachel scoffs and Victoria looks over at her, incredulous._

_“’Fuck you looking at?” She spits, and Rachel can’t help but shake her head._

_“Is it lonely up there in your ivory tower?”_

_Victoria_ _snorts and stands. “Is it miserable down there with your lowlife girlfriend?”_

_“Funny.” Rachel grins. “But you already know the answer to that.”_

_Victoria_ _purses her lips. She was obviously hoping for a snarky comeback, but Rachel isn’t in the mood to play her stupid games. She’s pretty sure Victoria gets off on shit like that, and the last thing she wants to do is to feed her addiction._

_“Whatever,” Victoria groans and turns around on her heels._

_When she’s finally out of sight, Rachel sighs and takes another sip of her rum and coke._

_Maybe she should just go back to her dorm and drink alone._

_She’s about to start heading towards the exit when she spots a brunette walking up to her in the corner of her eye._

_“Hey, Rach.”_

Great.

_Rachel turns and greets him with a smile. “Hey, you.”_

_Nathan laughs nervously and clutches at the red plastic cup in his hands. His slouched shoulders and timid posture almost makes Rachel feel sorry for him. He’s always been a little awkward and mysterious and a lot of people at Blackwell make fun of him for it. “I-I had a question for you.”_

_“Sure, ‘sup?”_

_“We’re doing a project in Jefferson’s class and it’s due on Monday. I was wondering if you’d help me with it…by modeling and stuff.”_

_“Uh…yeah, sure. I don’t see why not.”_

_Nathan looks up at her, eyes wide and full of hope, and if Rachel’s being completely honest, it kind of creeps her out. “Great! Awesome!” He nearly spills his drink as he fishes his phone out of his pocket. He must have been looking at the time because he shoves it back in only seconds later. “My parents have this room we can use – it’s specifically made for photography.”_

_“Cool,” Rachel says, finishing off the contents in her cup. “Sounds good.”_

_Someone behind her calls her name and she turns to see who it is._

_Hayden._

_“I can get you another drink if you want?” Nathan asks, and Rachel hands him her cup and waves him off dismissively._

_“Sure.”_

_Hayden makes his way over with a group of his friends at his flank and they end up talking until Nathan gets back._

_When he does, he hands over a cup with blue liquid and Rachel’s brows furrow._

_“It-it’s something Victoria made,” Nathan stutters quickly. “There’s a bowl of it over in the VIP section.”_

_“Dude, that shit’s nasty,” Hayden adds. “’Blue Vortex’ is what Tori calls it. Worst hangover I’ve ever had in my entire life.”_

_Rachel brings the drink up to her nose and takes a whiff._

_It doesn’t_ smell _bad. There’s a hint of coconut and she’s guessing there’s probably a whole bottle of rum in it._

_She takes a swig against her better judgment and is surprised when she doesn’t taste the alcohol._

_Her brows furrow. “I can’t taste anything?”_

_“That’s the point.” Hayden laughs. “And Victoria uses it to her own advantage. She gets girls drunk and interrogates them. Probably how she maintains her social hierarchy.”_

_Rachel rolls her eyes. It doesn’t surprise her._

_Hayden chuckles. “Speaking of Vic, I have to go talk to her. I’ll catch you later, okay?”_

_“Don’t get into too much trouble,” she says, smirking as he walks past._

_“No promises!”_

_Rachel shakes her head and glances back down to the blue liquid in her cup. She turns to her right and opens her mouth to thank Nathan, but he is no longer there._

_Her eyes proceed to scan the room._

_He doesn’t seem to even be in the vicinity anymore._

_She shrugs and brings the cup up to her mouth, downing its contents in one swift motion before crumpling it up and throwing it aside._

_“Fuck this party,” she groans, heading for the nearest exit._

_Once she’s out of the gym, she heads to the middle of the courtyard and takes a seat by the fountain._

_Her head falls into her hands._

_Why did Chloe have to be so_ difficult _?_

_And why was she so fascinated with doing things that could get her into trouble?_

_Rachel groans and holds herself back from screaming into the night._

_Maybe she should at least see if Chloe is okay._

_She retrieves her phone out of her pocket and turns the screen on._

_It’s fucking bright._

_“Fuck,” she hisses, turning her head away, but she almost loses her balance in the process._

_Her heart is beginning to pound in her chest and everything around her is spinning._

_No._

_This can’t be happening._

_Rachel brings her phone up to her face again, but everything is distorted and blurry. She tries to go to her recent calls to find Chloe’s name, but someone is grabbing her wrist and wrenching it away from her._

_Her eyes dart up to see who it is but the motion sends her backwards and she nearly falls into the water._

_Before her head has the chance to catch up with what’s going on, strong arms are wrapping around her back and legs and she’s being carried across the courtyard._

_“You…” She struggles to get the words out as the darkness closes in on her. “You drugged…”_

_“Shut up!” Nathan hisses and she’s suddenly overcome with intense fear._

_Rachel tries to move, she tries to wiggle her way free but her body is paralyzed._

_Her eyelids become heavy._

_No._

Stay awake, dammit.

_Next thing she knows, she’s being thrown in the backseat of a car and she barely registers the door being shut._

_Rachel lays there against the cold leather, tears streaming down her face._

_It’s in that moment that she realizes there’s nothing she can do to stop what's going to happen._

_She closes her eyes, and Chloe is the last thing she sees before gives in to her fate._

_“C’mon!” A voice is shouting at her, pulling her up by her arms. It sounds distant, almost as if someone’s shouting at her from the other end of a tunnel. “’C’mon, we have to leave now before he gets back!”_

_Rachel’s mind has a hard time registering what’s going on, but she wills her legs to move when she’s finally pulled out of the car._

_Someone takes her by the hand and forces her to run. Rachel stumbles, falling more times than she can count. She’s almost positive that her knees are coated in blood, but they eventually make it inside of a building._

_The person that’s leading her drags her into a room and they hide under what seems to be a desk. Rachel collapses on the floor._

_Her head is pounding and her vision blurs._

_“Rachel?”_

_“Who are you?” Rachel asks barely above a whisper._

_“My name is Max. Max Caulfield.”_

_***_

“H-how?” Chloe asks, facing towards the brunette. “How did you know where Rachel was? How did you even _get there_?”

Max exhales a long breath and meets Chloe’s gaze. “Remember how I said I was able to jump through time using pictures? Well, I used one that I took a couple nights before Rachel disappeared. I lied to my parents and told them that my friend invited me to go camping with her and her family for the weekend…and then I bought a bus ticket to Portland.”

“And then she stalked me,” Rachel adds, and Max glares at her.

“Did not.”

“Following someone around and hiding behind objects to prevent them from seeing you is classified as stalking, goober.” The smirk on Rachel’s face grows.

“I only did it to save your life!”

“Yeah, yeah… Whatever you say.” She winks, and Max’s cheeks flush a deep crimson.

Chloe shifts uncomfortably.

Seeing the two interact is just so… _weird_.

“So…” Chloe clears her throat, causing them to look back over at her. “What happened after you two got to the classroom?”

“We stayed there for a few hours. Rachel ended up falling asleep and I forced myself to stay awake to make sure no one came looking for us…for her,” Max explains. “But I knew we had to leave by morning, so we caught the earliest bus to the next town over and I paid for a motel room.”

***

_Rachel’s eyes fly open at the sound of something falling in the room. She darts upright in bed and turns in the direction it came from, only to find a brunette sitting in a chair, eyes wide, bending over to pick up what looks to be a journal._

_“Sorry, I…I guess I fell asleep and it must have slipped out of my hand.” Max retrieves the object from the floor and stands, clutching it to her chest. “I’m sorry.”_

_“It’s okay.” Rachel sighs and rubs at her eyes._

_How long had she been asleep for?_

_She glances over to the window, noticing that the sun is now high in the sky, and guesses it’s probably mid-afternoon. Her hands search in her pockets for her phone but she comes up empty._

_“Fucker,” Rachel hisses, suddenly remembering that Nathan had taken it.._

_Max slowly approaches and places something next to her on the bed. “I found it on the ground next to the car. He must’ve dropped it when he was trying to open the door.” Rachel glances down to see the device laying on the sheets and resists the urge to jump up and hug her._

_She reaches over and tries to turn it on, but realizes the battery is dead._

Of course.

_The thought of how many times Chloe’s probably tried to get ahold of her causes a groan to emanate from her chest._

_Max stashes the journal away in a messenger bag next to the bed and proceeds to sit next to her._

_She’s got to admit, Max is very beautiful. Her style might be a little outdated, but Rachel digs it. She can tell that Max doesn’t really care what other people think of her, and she’d be lying if she said she wasn’t a little envious. It’s no wonder why Chloe fell so hard for her when they were kids._

_Rachel sighs. “So you’re the famous Max Caulfield I’ve been hearing so much about?”_

_Max’s face flushes. “The one and only.”_

_“Does Chloe know you’re back in town?”_

_“No,” Max says quietly, her eyes cast down to her hands. “I’m only here for the weekend.”_

_Rachel’s brows furrow. “Well, what brought you down here? Why were you at Blackwell last night?”_

_“I’m here because of you.”_

What.

_Rachel sits up and crosses her legs, eyes intently staring at the girl next to her._

_Now she’s intrigued._

_“I-I don’t understand.”_

_Max sighs and picks at the chipped pink nail polish on her fingers. “It’s hard to…” She starts, but shakes her head. “You probably wouldn’t believe me if I told you.”_

_“Try me,” Rachel pushes. This girl can’t randomly show up out of the blue, save her life and not give her an explanation as to why._

_But Max just sits there, not saying a word. Not even bothering to look up at her._

_It’s_ frustrating _._

_Rachel reaches over and grabs one of the brunette’s hands, hoping to break her out of the stupor she seems to be in. “Look, Max, you hella saved my life last night. I just want to know why.” Max looks up at her, eyes glazed and full of secrets. “Don’t I deserve an explanation?”_

_“Nathan was going to kill you.”_

_Rachel flinches and suddenly grows nauseous. She knew Nathan had bad intentions, but she didn’t think he was that fucked up._

_She swallows at the thought. “But how did you know?”_

_“’Cause Chloe and I found your-” Max hesitates and Rachel notices that she’s shaking. “It doesn’t matter. You just have to trust me.”_

_Rachel groans. “What, can you see the future or something? Did you travel back in time to save me from my fucked up, imminent death?” She meant it as a joke, but something in Max’s face changes._

_The girl in front of her looks away and pushes herself up off the bed._

_“Max-“_

_“I had to,” Max interrupts, “I had to come back because you disappeared and Chloe kept dying and Kate jumped and Victoria… I couldn’t save everyone. I couldn’t…” Her voice breaks. Tears are running down her face as she falls to the floor and Rachel launches out of the bed to be by her side._

_“Max, it’s okay,” Rachel shushes her and reaches out for her hand. Her head is spinning and she doesn’t quite know what to think, but she’s reluctant to ask any questions. “You saved me. I’m alive because of you.”_

_“But what if I can’t save everyone else?”_

_“You will.” Rachel assures her._

_“But what if-“_

_“I’ll help you, okay?” Rachel says on a whim. Sure, she doesn’t know what the hell is even going on, but she’d do anything for her girlfriend’s best friend. “But you need to understand that even if everything doesn’t go as planned, it’s not your burden to carry. You might be a superhero, Max, but you can’t save everyone in the world. People live and they die and there’s nothing we can do to stop the circle of life.”_

_Max nods but it’s clear that she’s still having a panic attack, so Rachel lets go of her hand and proceeds to sit behind her. She scoots forward, wrapping her arms around Max’s stomach and pulls her into her chest._

_It’s silent for a while, but Rachel doesn’t mind. She shuts her eyes and presses her ear to the brunette’s back and listens to her rapid heartbeat slowly decrease._

_“Chloe and I found your body…in the junkyard,” Max whispers, causing Rachel to bring her head up to rest on her shoulder. “You were buried by the hideout.”_

_Rachel swallows. She doesn’t want to think about what would have happened last night if Max didn’t pull her out of the car. But, for some reason, there is also a sick, irrational part of her that wants to know. “Did you ever find out what happened to me?”_

_“Nathan has a secret bunker…he calls it_ The Dark Room _. That’s where he was planning on taking you last night…”_

_Was that what that little shit meant when he said that his parents had a room they could use?_

_She tenses and Max seems to pick up on it because she glances over and waits for a sign to continue._

_Rachel gives her hand a squeeze._

_“You were the first girl he tried to photograph in that room alone. He usually had…help.” Max pauses and takes in a shaky breath. “I’m guessing you started to wake up before he was done, so he gave you more sedatives…but he didn’t know what he was doing. He ended up giving you too much and-”_

_“And killed me,” Rachel interrupts, shaking her head. “How did you find out?”_

_This time, it’s Max who tenses and closes her eyes. “Mr. Jefferson told me. He’s the one who’s helping Nathan.”_

_Rachel instantly feels like she’s going to throw up. She needs to get up, go outside,_ something _._

_Everything starts making sense._

_She couldn’t understand why Mr. Jefferson had been so insistent on helping her build her career. Why he kept asking her to stay after class. Why he was just so…_ clingy _whenever she walked into his classroom._

_Rachel pulls herself away from Max and rises to her feet. “I…” She grabs her phone off the bed and heads for the door. “I have to go.”_

_“No, Rachel, wait,” Max yells and grabs onto Rachel’s wrist before she’s able to reach the knob. “Just…stay here for a few days. Take a bus to school.”_

_“I can’t-“_

_“It’s not safe for you to go back. Not yet.”_

_Rachel turns to try to leave again. "I’ll stay with Chloe-”_

_“No!” Max practically screams, causing Rachel to freeze in place. “We can’t drag Chloe into this. Promise me you won’t tell her about this.”_

_“Why not?” Rachel’s voice is hard as she spins around. “She’s my girlfriend. She deserves to know.”_

_“Because I’ve seen her die, Rachel, more times than you can imagine and I don’t have the power to rewind time anymore.” Max is crying now, and Rachel’s heart drops into her stomach. “If she dies in this timeline, she’s gone forever. I won’t be able to save her like I could before._ We _have to protect her.”_

_A lump forms in her throat at the thought of anything happening to Chloe, especially because of her. She wouldn’t be able to live with herself._

_“Okay,” Rachel agrees. “I won’t tell her. I promise”_

_Max breathes out a sigh of relief and throws her arms around Rachel. “Thank you.”_

_She’s still not quite sure what to make of everything, but she’d rather be safe than sorry. She’d rather believe in something that might not be true than to not believe in something that is true and suffer the consequences for it._

_“I guess this is going to be my home for the next couple of days, then," Rachel says as she pulls away._

_“I have my card hooked up to this room, so stay as long as you need.” Max walks across the room and retrieves her bag. “And don’t worry about the money. I just want you to be safe.”_

_Rachel shakes her head. “I’ll pay you back.”_

_“No, it’s okay,” Max assures her. “I left a bag for you in the hideout at the junkyard. It has everything you’ll need.”_

_“You didn’t have to-“_

_“Oh, and one more thing…” Max shifts around in her bag and holds out a phone._

_“What’s this?”_

_“A burner phone,” Max says, placing it in Rachel’s hand. “We’ll both have one. It’s how we’ll be keeping in contact with each other.”_

***

“I made the mistake of going to Principal Wells about what happened.” Rachel shakes her head. “I’m pretty sure the Prescott’s paid him off because Wells came to me the next day saying that I needed to stop making accusations about ‘Blackwell’s finest students’ to try and sabotage them.”

“It was my fault,” Max adds. “I should’ve warned you not to trust him.”

Rachel lets out a deep breath. “It doesn’t matter now. The Prescott’s own the school and everything else is this fucking town. No one would’ve believed me-”

“Is this why you broke things off?” Chloe interrupts, rising to her feet.

“Chloe, I-“

“Was Max the person you were talking about when you told me you’d met someone who changed your life?”

The question causes the two girls on the couch to look at each other for a moment, and then Rachel’s gaze shifts back to Chloe’s and she nods. “Yes.”

It all makes sense.

Chloe clenches her fists, stuffs them into her jacket pockets and heads for the door. “I’ve gotta get some air.”

“Chlo, listen to me,” Rachel pleaded, rising to her feet, but Chloe doesn’t stop. The walls feel like they’re closing in around her and she can’t stand to be in this room any longer. But then Rachel is in front of her, blocking her way out and all Chloe sees is red. “Chloe, stop-“

“Do you know how much that fucking hurt?” She yells, “Not only did you disappear out of thin fucking air, but you tried to make me believe you were leaving me for someone else.” Chloe starts to tremble, and she wills herself not to cry.

“I know, and I’m sorry,” Rachel says quietly, reaching up to Chloe’s face. But before she has the chance to touch her skin, she pushes the blonde aside and walks past.

“Not good enough.”

Maybe she’s being a little irrational, but she can’t help the stabbing pain she feels in her chest thinking about everything Rachel _and_ Max have been hiding from her for all of these months. Every lie her girlfriend told her. All of the self-destruction in Chloe’s mind that came from it.

Just because they didn’t want her to get hurt.

It was bullshit, because she ended up getting hurt anyway. Just not in the way they were both worried about.

An ‘I’m sorry’ isn’t going to cover the wounds they caused like a fucking band-aid. There’s always going to be scars where they stabbed her in the back. There’s nothing they can do or say to make them go away.

“Nathan threatened me. He threatened to hurt you if I didn’t leave.”

Chloe stops in her tracks.

***

_Rachel leans her head back and closes her eyes, allowing the sun to beat on her face._

_It’s not raining for once and it’s a fucking miracle._

_That’s one thing she really misses about California – not having to suffer through days and days of crappy weather. Not very often, anyway._

_It’s only the first week of April and they’ve already reached a record high of rainfall for the year._

_Oregon_ _fucking sucks._

_Rachel brings the lit cigarette to her mouth and silently thanks Chloe for sharing her amazing pickpocketing skills. If she was being honest, Victoria made it too easy for her. She left her purse sitting out in the open during class and stuffed her cigarettes in a pocket on the side. There’s no way she could pass up on the opportunity._

_She inhales until only the butt’s left and then tosses it, stubbing it out with her shoe when it hits the ground._

_When she looks back up, she notices someone walking towards her from the parking lot._

_Nathan._

Shit.

_There’s nowhere for her to run._

_Her heart’s pounding in her chest and an eerie chill runs down her spine, but she maintains her composure. Back straight, head held high, arms crossed. Just like Victoria. She had to at least make him think that she wasn’t scared of him._

_That is until she notices that one of the pockets in his letterman’s jacket is weighed down._

_“You made a big fuckin’ mistake,” he hisses, practically screaming in her face. “You have no idea who you’re messing around with, bitch.”_

_“Dude, calm the fuck down-“_

_“Don’t fucking tell me what to do!” Nathan cuts her off, pushing her up against the side of the building._

_Rachel throws her arms up in the air. “Okay-”_

_“My parents practically own this school. Did you really think anyone was actually going to believe you?”_

_“I-”_

_“You better not show your face around here again or your stupid punk ass girlfriend is going to get it. Hell, maybe I’ll off you both. Make it look like you two left town together. No one would even care to question it.”_

_In that moment, a flame inside of her ignites and boils inside of her stomach. Rachel can handle Nathan threatening and torturing her, but he won’t get away with hurting Chloe. She will rip every finger off of his fucking hands before he has the chance to touch her._

_“Don’t you fucking dare bring Chloe into this.” Rachel pushes him back, but then a gun is being held to the side of her head and her whole body goes stiff._

_“I don’t think you get it,” he spits, shoving her against the wall. “It wasn’t a fucking question. If you tell anyone else about what happened, including that freak you’re with, we’re going to have problems. Got it?”_

_Rachel swallows and closes her eyes._

_What is she supposed to do? She can’t take Chloe and run. They don’t have any money and Chloe will have too many questions._

_And she can’t stay._

_Rachel nods._

_“Good.”_

_The cold metal is taken away from her head as he pulls away, but Rachel still refuses to open her eyes. She waits until she no longer hears his footsteps to look back up across the parking lot._

_Her legs give out from under her and she slides down the wall._

_She has to get out of here._

_Rachel reaches for the shitty black phone in her pocket and calls the only person in her contacts._

_“Rachel?”_

_“I’m getting on the next bus to Seattle. We need to talk.”_

_***_

“We were going to tell you everything once we caught Nathan and turned him in to the cops.” Rachel’s voice is soft and genuine and it’s tearing Chloe in half.

She wants to stay mad, she knows she has the right to, but it’s so fucking _difficult_ because there’s a part of her that so desperately wants to forgive her.

Rachel’s always had that effect on Chloe. She’s always had the ability to cleanse her of anger and resentment with a touch of her hand or the sound of her voice, and it isn’t fair. She shouldn’t be allowed to win so easily.

“But when I found you by the lighthouse, I knew we couldn’t keep it from you any longer,” Max says, emerging from behind the blonde.

“Chloe, I’m sorry.” Rachel’s voice closer now, only a couple of feet away. “What can I do to make it up to you?”

Chloe turns around and takes a step towards her. “No more keeping secrets from me.” She says firmly.

Rachel nods. “No more secrets.”

Chloe crosses her arms and looks her in the eye. “And you’re gonna let me help.”

Rachel’s eyes grow wide and her mouth gapes, and then she’s shaking her head.

Max comes up beside her. “No, it’s too-”

“It’s either that or I’m gonna drive my ass down to Blackwell and beat the shit out of that little fucking psycho myself,” Chloe interrupts, glancing over at her best friend. She’s not just going to sit back and watch, especially not after everything they’ve told her. And they know there’s nothing they can do to stop her.

“Fine,” Rachel groans, and Max looks over at her, astonished.

“What? No.” Max shakes her head. “No, we agreed that Chloe wasn’t going to have any part in this.”

“We don’t really have a choice now, do we?” The blonde sighs. “We’ll figure it out. In the meantime, I’ll keep an eye on Frank’s deals with Nathan. He told me he’d let me know if anything happens.”

Chloe narrows her eyes. “’Didn’t know you two were close.”

“I-I’ve been staying with him on and off for the past few months.”

_What. The. Fuck._

Chloe can’t even fucking believe this. Especially not after all of the arguments and almost-break ups they’ve had over her doing business with Frank.

He was the reason why all of this even fucking _happened_ , and now she’s _staying_ with him?

“Wow.” Chloe uncrosses her arms and throws them up in the air. “And I thought this couldn’t get any shittier.”

“He’s been loaning me money, Chloe.”

Chloe scoffs, “Hopefully not in exchange for a good fuck.”

Rachel flinches and her face changes into one that Chloe cannot read, but it’s gone as quickly as it appeared and her eyes narrow as she opens her mouth. “Are you serious?” Rachel asks incredulously.

Chloe just stands there, looking at her as if to say ‘ _Well?’_ and waits for an answer.

“Fuck you,” The blonde spits and pushes past her.

Max glares over at Chloe and yells, “Rachel, wait!”

Chloe sighs.

Maybe that was a little harsh.

But what the fuck is she supposed to think? Chloe’s been inside of that RV more times than she can count. She’s been in Frank’s room. She knows there’s only one bed. And she knows that Frank doesn’t just hand over money and not expect anything in return.

Chloe turns. “Rach, I didn’t mean-”

“Yes, you did,” The blonde cuts her off, spinning around on her heels. “And it fucking hurts to know that you think I’d stoop that fuckin’ low.”

Her gaze drops and she kicks a rock with her foot. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have…” Chloe sighs. “I know you wouldn’t.”

Rachel groans, dropping her arms to her sides. “Frank is gross and skeezy and I wouldn’t touch him or his bed with a ten foot pole.”

“Then where do you sleep?”

“Normally, in the driver’s seat. It’s hella uncomfortable, and my neck absolutely fucking hates it, but it’s better than dealing with bed bugs.”

Now Chloe really feels like shit.

Why does she always have to fuck everything up?

Chloe puts her arms behind her back and looks down at the ground like a small child that had just gotten in trouble, and slowly closes the distance between them. “I’m sorry. Today’s just been hella insane and my brain’s fried. Think Frank would spot me some weed?”

Rachel chuckles, and Chloe’s honestly never been so relieved to hear her laugh. “I’m sure we could work something out.”

 

* * *

 

 

When they finally get back to Max’s room, Chloe throws her bag on the ground and rummages through it for a change of clothes.

Max giggles as she sits on her bed. “Is my sense of style really that bad?”

“For me, yes. For you, no.” Chloe smiles, “This shirt is just cutting off the circulation to my arms.”

“Sorry. It’s the largest one I have.”

Once Chloe finds a pair of sweats and a tank top, she starts stripping down, but pauses when she notices Max picking her sheets and trying to look anywhere else but at the girl in front of her. Chloe clears her throat and points over to the other side of the room. “I’ve noticed that you have a copy of _Blade Runner_ sitting on your desk. We haven’t watched it together since we were kids.”

“We can watch it tonight, if you want?” Max asks, making her way over to her laptop.

“Yeah, that’d be hella awesome.”

Chloe quickly finishes before Max turns back around, and they both proceed to get comfortable on the bed.

“You better not fall asleep,” The brunette says jokingly.

“I won’t.”

Halfway through the movie, Chloe ends up falling asleep.

Like always.

 

* * *

 

 

“I don’t think I can go through with this, Chloe,” Max says, watching Kate Marsh dance with random guys from across the room.

They’ve been here for a while, standing at a distance, discreetly watching Nathan’s every move. It’s making Max uncomfortable, Chloe can see it in the way she’s messing with her fingers and rubbing at her arm. She’s itching to drag Kate away.

“We have no other choice.”

It’s true. They really don’t have any other choice. Catching Nathan in that fucked-up room of his with Kate is the only way to guarantee all of this will end. They’re hoping Jefferson will be there, too, but there’s no doubt Nathan will mention his name when everything’s crumbling down around him.

Max suddenly grows tense and takes a step forward, and Chloe follows her gaze. There’s a group of girls laughing and pointing at Kate from afar, and Chloe has to turn away.

This is going to be harder than she thought.

Even though she doesn’t know Kate, her instincts still desperately want to save her from the humiliation.

“Kate’s gonna try to commit suicide because of this.” Max’s voice is so quiet she can barely hear her, and Chloe notices tears swelling in her eyes. “What if I can’t save her this time?”

“You will,” Chloe assures her. “Who knows, maybe she won’t even try. There’s gotta be something you can do differently this time.”

“I don’t know, Chloe.”

She feels for her, she really does, but she wants Rachel back. It might be selfish – actually, she _knows_ it’s selfish, but risking one person to save Rachel’s life, and a bunch of other girls from ever being in the same fucked-up situation seems worth it.

It’s worth it, right?

Will she be able to watch her best friend fall apart if she’s unsuccessful at saving this girl from committing suicide?

She sighs and turns towards the brunette, but as she opens her mouth to say something, Max takes off running across the room.

“Max!” Chloe sprints after her, weaving through the crowd and trying to ignore the glares she’s receiving as she pushes people out of the way.

She doesn’t make it in time to stop her. Max squeezes through the group of people surrounding Kate and drags her away before Chloe is able to convince her not to.

The plan is ruined.

Her eyes scan the room; searching for the one person that she is absolutely terrified of seeing. Chloe hasn’t seen Nathan in years, and after the story Rachel had told her about the threats he’s made, she doesn’t really want to find out what would happen if he did end up catching her here.

In her search, she spots a brunette with her phone out, and she has no doubt in her mind that she’s been recording everything that’s been going on. Chloe stalks towards her like an animal in pursuit of attacking its prey, and snatches the device out of her hand. She throws it on the ground and watches it shatter and slide right into the pool.

“What the fuck,” The girl yells, shoving her backwards. “You’re going to pay for that, bitch.”

Chloe scoffs and turns around on her heels. She spots an exit door to the left that’s still partially open and decides to head towards it. Once she’s outside, she notices Max trying to lift the blonde off of the ground.

“What happened?” Chloe asks, running to her side.

“I don’t know, she just started hyperventilating and…she fell,” Max answers, looking up to meet her gaze.

Kate groans and places one of her hands over her face. “What’s happening to me? I’m gonna die, aren’t I?”

“No, Kate, you’re not gonna die,” Max assures her. “You just need to get some sleep. I’m gonna take you back to my room, okay? Everything will be fine.”

Chloe’s upset, she’s not gonna lie, because this might have been their only chance to actually catch Nathan, but she doesn’t blame Max. She probably would’ve done the same thing if someone she cared about was in Kate’s position.

“Here, I’ll get her,” Chloe murmurs, lowering herself to the ground to wrap her arms underneath the blonde.

Max nods and stands once Chloe has a good grip on her.

They continue to make their way across the courtyard and to the dorms, and Chloe can’t help but imagine Rachel being the one in her arms. She can’t help but think about Rachel being like this, dazed and confused and wondering if she was going to die, when Nathan had drugged her.

Chloe would never admit it, but deep down, she’s glad they saved Kate from such a traumatic experience. The more Chloe realizes how gentle and innocent she is, the more she believes there’s no way she could have handled this, no matter what the outcome may have been.

She’s glad she smashed that girl’s phone. She’s glad all this night is going to be is a story that will be passed around school for a week, meaningless and pointless without any evidence.

Maybe it’s better this way.

There will be another girl, another victim, and they’ll get it right next time.

 

* * *

 

 

The next night, Chloe is awoken by the sound of a phone vibrating. She blinks, rubs at her eyes and looks around the room, which is still barely lit by the moon shining through the window.

Her brows furrow as she glances over at her phone. It hasn’t gone off in days. Even her mom hasn’t tried to get ahold of her.

She grabs it off Max’s dresser and notices she has a couple of texts from an unknown number.

**Unknown:**

_Come outside._

**Unknown:**

_Alone._

Chloe’s heart falls into her stomach.

It’s Nathan.

It has to be Nathan.

He must have found out what they did – how they ruined his plan. Someone must have told him that they saw Chloe at the Vortex party, and he found out where she was staying.

The room is suddenly closing in around her, and it feels like someone is sitting on her chest, constricting her lungs and making it nearly impossible to breathe.

What will happen if she doesn’t comply?

She’s pretty sure she already knows, and she doesn’t want to think about it.

Chloe looks over at the brunette lying next to her and prays that she doesn’t wake up as she carefully gets out of bed. She turns the handle slowly, keeping an eye on Max the whole time, and pulls the door open just enough to slide through. She scans up and down the hall, noting that the coast is clear before she makes a swift exit, and when she finally gets outside, she sends a text.

**Me:**

_Where?_

**Unknown:**

_In the parking lot._

The cold air stings her lungs as she inhales. Every possible scenario runs through her mind, the most common being something along the lines of Nathan putting a gun to her head. Whether or not he would have the guts to pull the trigger is beyond her. It’s in that moment that she wishes she would have grabbed her fucking knife out of the hideout. Then she would at least have some sort of chance.

As she proceeds to walk down the path, Chloe reaches into her pocket and grabs the last, lucky cigarette out of her pack, and places it between her lips.

“Better not fail me now,” She mutters, lighting it up and taking a long drag.

Right before she reaches the parking lot, she hides behind a wall and searches for a figure, but doesn’t see anyone.

It scares the shit out of her.

Chloe takes another drag before she reluctantly steps out into the open, still scanning her surroundings, and makes her way around the cars. There’s still no one in sight and she’s half expecting a car to come bombing out of nowhere and run her over.

When she reaches her truck, she looks inside and notices a bag that’s clearly not hers and when she turns around, someone’s standing in front of her.

“Holy shit,” Chloe shouts, jumping backwards and slamming her head into the mirror of her truck. Her hands dart up to the pain shooting through her skull as she slides to the ground. “Fuck.”

“Chlo, I’m so sorry! I didn’t think I’d scare you _that_ bad.”

Rachel’s sitting in front of her when she opens her eyes, and she resists the urge to cuss her out. “You’re a fuckin’ dick.”

The blonde smirks. “You love me.”

If both of Chloe’s hands weren’t already preoccupied, she’d reach out and smack her arm. Or push her backwards… or both.

“What are you doing here?”

“I thought we could spend the night together.”

Chloe reaches into her jacket pocket to retrieve her phone, and looks at the time. “It’s 1:30?”

Rachel shrugs. “So?”

“It’s not safe for you to stay here.”

“Who said anything about staying here?” Rachel winks, and Chloe has to admit that she’s really missed having her around.

“Well, where do you wanna go?”

The blonde reaches out and helps Chloe to her feet. “I was thinking we could go to Cannon Beach? I don’t know…somewhere we can set up a bed in the back of your truck and look up at the stars, like we used to.”

It sounds nice. _Really_ nice, but she’s only got a couple gallons of gas in her truck and no money to fill it up.

Just as Chloe’s about to voice her concern, the blonde’s pulling a twenty out of her back pocket, and she swears Rachel can read her mind. “I’ve got twenty bucks…should be more than enough to get us there and back.”

Chloe smiles and lifts one of her hands to move a strand of hair out of Rachel’s face. “Okay,” she agrees. “Get in.”

The car ride is pretty quiet, but Chloe doesn’t mind, because Rachel’s hand is in hers and her head is resting against her shoulder, and everything seems right in the world for once.

When they reach a stoplight, she turns her head and places a kiss into Rachel’s hair, and the blonde immediately looks up to meet her gaze.

“I thought about you every single day,” she says quietly. “And I thought about what it would’ve been like if I told you to pack your bags and asked you to run away with me.”

Chloe swallows as she starts to feel a lump forming in the back of her throat, and looks back out to the road. “Why didn’t you?”

“You know why I couldn’t.” Rachel’s voice is soft and somber as she looks down to their joined hands, and Chloe has to grip the steering wheel tighter to keep her emotions at bay. “But we’ll escape this shitty town when all of this is over. I mean it this time. Nothing will be keeping us here anymore.”

All Chloe can do is nod her head and pray that everything works out, because she feels like the whole world is out to get her. Every time something goes right in her life, something comes and takes it away from her. She’s too fragile to be giving her hopes up.

Something inside of her knows nothing will be the same after all of this. There will be collateral damage, there’s no doubt about that, she just doesn’t know the extent she’s going to be facing.

It doesn’t take much longer for them to reach their destination, and they make quick work of setting up the blankets that Rachel brought in the back of her truck. The blonde is shivering violently from the wind coming off of the water when she finally climbs in, and Chloe immediately wraps her arms around her when she gets under the covers.

“Why didn’t you bring a jacket?” Chloe asks softly as Rachel lays her head on her chest, and wraps an arm around her frame.

“C-cause Pompidou chewed a hole in the only one I had.”

It’s still weird to hear Rachel talk about Frank and his dog, and it’s even weirder to imagine her staying with him, but she tries not to think about it too much. She knows where her mind drifts off to when she does, and it almost always sends her into an anxiety attack.

“You can borrow mine?” she offers. “I have another one in the hideout somewhere.”

Rachel nods, teeth chattering as she snakes her hand under the hem of Chloe’s shirt. It feels like there’s an icicle being pressed against her flesh, and she would normally flinch away, but Rachel’s slowly sliding her fingers across the skin over her hip, back and forth, and Chloe can’t help but close her eyes as all of her fears and worries vanish from her mind.

When the trembling finally subsides, Rachel pulls back a little and raises her hand to Chloe’s cheek, and coaxes her to meet her gaze. “I love you, Chloe. You know that, right?”

Chloe nods and leans into her touch, but something inside of her cracks and her vision blurs as she looks up at the sky. She knows Rachel loves her. She knows it with every fiber of her being, but she’s just so _scared_ because Rachel could do so much better than Chloe Price and the thought of her finding someone else terrifies her.

“Hey, look at me,” the blonde says, worry marring every word. Chloe reluctantly obeys and Rachel wipes away the tear that’s slowly rolling down her face. “Chlo, what’s wrong?”

 “I’m just…” She shakes her head. “I’m being stupid.”

“Tell me…please.”

Chloe swallows and silently curses herself for not being able to control her emotions, because she doesn’t want to have this talk with Rachel again. They’ve had it so many times before, and Chloe’s sure she’s grown tired of constantly having to reassure her that everything is okay. She’s insecure, Chloe knows that, and she hates herself for it, but she can’t _help_ it. She used to blame her dad and Max for leaving her and making her this way. And now, she blames the universe for taking Rachel away from her for six months and reminding her that she may leave someday, too.

“Chloe?” There’s so much concern in Rachel’s voice now, and Chloe knows she won’t get away with not answering.

She sighs and blinks away her tears. “I’m afraid of losing you.”

“You won’t,” Rachel says firmly. “You’re not going to lose me again. Do you understand? I’m not going to leave you.”

Even though it’s not quite enough to erase Chloe’s fear, she nods anyway. She knows it’ll get better with time, it always does, and she doesn’t want to waste their night by worrying about what the future might bring.

Chloe’s eyes momentarily fall to her lips, and Rachel obviously gets the hint because she closes the distance between them and kisses her. It’s soft and genuine, and it’s everything she’s needed these past few days.

She clings onto this moment like it’s her lifeline, because she doesn’t know when she’ll be able to be with Rachel like this again, at least not until they get rid of the one thing that’s keeping them apart.

“I love you,” Chloe whispers, gently pulling away.

“I love you more.”

 

* * *

 

 

Rachel’s gone when she wakes up.

It’s not a surprise, really. Deep down, Chloe knew that she probably would be, but it doesn’t make it hurt any less.

She guesses Frank probably came and got her sometime before the sun came up, and Chloe’s stomach wretches at the thought.

As she’s folding up the blankets, Rachel’s bracelet falls onto the sand, and she punches the side of her truck as tears cloud her vision. Something in the back of her mind keeps telling her that nothing is ever going to be the same as it was before Rachel disappeared, and Chloe’s starting to actually believe it.

 

* * *

 

 

“Fuck,” she mutters as she drives into the Blackwell parking lot and spots a tiny brunette frantically pacing back and forth, looking down at her phone.

A deep sigh escapes her lips as she thinks about how worried Max has probably been, and how Chloe’s going to get her ass chewed for not telling her where she was going. She honestly meant to send Max a text when they got to the beach last night, but it completely slipped her mind – probably because her phone wasn’t in her pocket when they got into the bed of her truck. She really oughta figure out where she put that fucking thing.

 “Where have you been?” Max asks, running up to her as she opens the door and steps out.

 “I’ve been with Rachel. She showed up in the middle of the night and-”

“Something’s wrong,” she interrupts, eyes cast down to the device in her hand.

As Chloe follows her gaze, she notices that Max is trembling, and her heart sinks into her stomach. “W-what do you mean?”

“I got a call from Rachel…but when I picked it up, all I could hear was screaming – people arguing and then it cut out. I tried calling back, several times, but it’s turned off.”

Oh god.

A part of Chloe wants to believe that Rachel and Frank got in a fight, but the rational part of her knows that it’s wishful thinking.

“Did you call Frank?”

“No, I don’t have his-”

Chloe snatches the phone out of her hand before she has the chance to finish and dials Frank’s number. (It’s probably the only number she’s bothered to memorize. You never know when you’re going to need a hookup.) Someone picks up on the fourth ring, but all she can hear is painful groaning on the other end of the line, and Chloe has to lean up against her truck as her head starts spinning.

“Frank?” She asks nervously.

“Chloe? Jesus, I’ve been trying to get ahold of you for the past ten minutes.”

“What’s going on? Max told me that Rachel called-”

“They found out about our plan.”

Chloe swears her heart stops. “W-who?”

“Who the fuck do you think? That goddamn kid and his fuckin’ accomplice – _God dammit_!” Frank screams and groans again, and Chloe has to remove the device from her ear until all she hears are grumbles. “They barged in here with a fucking gun and threatened to kill me unless I told them where Rachel was.”

“And you fuckin’ told them?”

“No – Jesus, Chloe, do you really think I’m that fucking stupid? I didn’t tell them shit. But then they shot my goddamn dog and Rach came bombing outta the bedroom with my gun and accidentally shot me in the leg.”

“Is she okay?”

“I dunno. That fuckin’ punk ass kid knocked me out,” he groans. “’Probably thought I wasn’t going to wake up.”

There’s an uncomfortable silence that comes after that, and Chloe grows nauseous. Her mouth gapes, attempting to form words as she gasps for air, but she’s afraid to ask the question that’s lingering in the back of her mind.

Frank sighs, and as if he can read her mind, he answers, “I think they have her, Chloe.”

The phone falls from her trembling hand and shatters on the ground.

‘W-we need to go.” She stammers as she starts digging through her truck and throwing stuff around until she finds what she’s looking for. Chloe ignores all of the missed calls and texts and begins typing a message to the one person she thought she’d never talk to again. Quite honestly, she doesn’t want to ask David for help, but she knows he’s the only person that can.

**Me:**

_I know we haven’t been on good terms lately but I need your help. Rachel’s in serious fucking danger. I’m afraid she’s going to get hurt. Please meet me at the address I’m about to send you ASAP._

Chloe shoves the phone over to Max. “Send David the address to the barn, and show me how to fucking get there.”

Max nods and hurries around to the passenger’s side and gets in.

Most of the car ride is spent in silence; the brunette holds onto anything she can as Chloe speeds down the road, running every stop sign and red light. Max chokes out the directions as she witnesses other cars collide in their attempt to dodge the truck, and Chloe has a hard time registering what she’s saying as the little voice in the back of her mind tells her that she’s going to be too late.

Her hands grip the steering wheel tighter as she makes her final turn and races up the gravel road. There’s no car in front of the barn, and she can’t help but take that as a bad sign.

 _You’re too late_ , it says again, and Chloe slams her palms against the wheel.

They _can’t_ be too late.

She has to be here.

Chloe pushes the door open and runs inside of the building, and searches the ground for the hidden door Max was talking about. She stumbles around as her legs threaten to give out from under her, and when she finally finds it, Max rushes up and stands in front of her.

“We need to wait for David to get-”

“We don’t have time!” she yells, tears quickly forming in her eyes. “We need to get her out of here before they get back.”

Max gently shakes her head. “Chloe, I don’t think she’s-”

“Don’t,” Chloe interrupts, pushing the brunette aside. “She’s here. I know she is.”

She manages to get the latch open, and proceeds to rush down the stairs, but there’s another door at the end of the hall that needs a code and Chloe’s heart drops. She bangs her fist against the metal and rests her head on the hard surface.

 _You’re too late_.

“542.” A tiny voice comes from up above, and Chloe wipes away the tears from her eyes before she punches in the code.

A beep and a green light follow.

It worked.

Chloe spins the wheel to unlock the door and pulls it open. If the food stacked on the shelves along the walls is anything to go by, this was originally meant to be a bunker, but Nathan apparently thought it would be better to use it as his weird, fucked-up experimentation room instead.

She walks across the room, to the transparent curtains, and pulls them aside.

The lights are dim, and the air is stale and the room is so _pristine_. A shiver runs down her spine as she steps in, and the pictures hanging on the white walls catch her eye.

Bile rises in her throat as she looks them over.

It’s obvious that they’re of ones he’s taken - of girls at Blackwell, no doubt - and the thought of him getting away with drugging, kidnapping and bringing them here to photograph them while they lay practically unconscious, makes her sick. She has to divert her gaze to keep herself from spewing the insides of her stomach all over the floor.

Her eyes sweep the rest of her surroundings, and as she looks over to the white background in the middle of the room, she spots a red flannel and blonde hair. She quickly makes her way over to her and notices that she’s restrained to a chair with duct tape

“Rachel?” Chloe asks, shaking her, but there’s no answer. It doesn’t look like she’s breathing, and a sob rips from Chloe’s chest.

 _You’re too late_.

“No!” She screams, shaking her head to rid her mind of the thoughts that are threatening to consume her. “Rachel, please.” She’s begging now, pleading whatever god there is not to take Rachel away from her, because she can’t live without her. Chloe wouldn’t ever be able to forgive herself for this – for not being able to save her.

Chloe drops to her knees, raises her hands to cup the sides of Rachel’s face and leans in to press their foreheads together. She closes her eyes as tears pour down her cheeks at an incredible pace, and she’s repeating Rachel’s name like a mantra, as if it’s going to rewind time and fix everything.

It takes a minute for Chloe to notice the faint wisps of air hitting her face, but when she does, her eyes shoot open and she wastes no time in pressing her ear against Rachel’s chest.

There’s a heartbeat – It’s slow and faded, but it’s there, and Chloe pulls away and starts working at the binds on the blonde’s wrists.

“I was hoping you would come.” A voice comes from behind her, and Chloe turns to find a man, who she assumes is Jefferson, standing by the curtain. Max is nowhere in sight and Chloe takes it as a good sign. She hopes she was able to escape. “I’ve never had an opportunity like this before. It’s just a shame you already know what’s coming. The fear will be evident in your eyes, but I’m sure I’ll make it work.”

“You won’t get away with this, you fucking psycho.” Chloe rises to her feet and starts heading towards him, but Jefferson pulls a gun out of the waistband of his slacks, and it freezes her in place.

“But I will,” he scoffs. “You see – I’ve talked to a few people and I’ve had a good look through your files, and I’ve realized that it’d be _very_ easy for me to make this all look like it was your doing. You’re a homeless, high school dropout with no friends and quite a few family problems…and on top of that, it seems like you have some anger issues. I’m sure there are countless other things that will work in my favor to convince the police that you got upset, shot your girlfriend and then yourself.”

“Fuck you,” Chloe hisses, and refrains from saying anything else.

He might have a plan, and he might think it’s going to work, but it won’t. She wants to tell him that. She wants to scream at him and say that Max is out there somewhere, undeniably getting help, and that David is probably going to show up at any second, but she knows that she can’t because that would put their lives in danger.

“And you know what’s even better?” He asks, getting closer. “Rachel had this wonderful little gun in her hand when I found her, and I’ve taken the precautions in making sure there’s no way for them to trace it back to me. She even shot the drug dealer for me and got him out of my hair.”

Chloe clenches her jaw and balls her hands into fists in attempt to keep her mouth shut, because she knows that if she were to open it, she’d give everything away. She watches as he makes his way over to a tray and grabs a needle from it, and there’s no doubt in her mind that it’s the same shit he used on Rachel.

She quickly searches the room, looking for anything relatively close to her that she might be able to use to knock him out, but it all seems too risky. If she makes one wrong move, he could aim the gun at Rachel and pull the trigger, and her attempt would’ve been for nothing.

Jefferson stops a few feet away, with the gun still aimed at her head, and looks down at Rachel. “She’s absolutely magnificent, isn’t she?”

Right as she’s about to respond, she notices a figure emerge from the other side of the curtain, and she meets the brunette’s gaze. She tries shaking her head, warning her to turn around and leave, but Max doesn’t listen. She starts tip-toeing her way over to them, a crowbar in her hand, but David’s voice echoes through the hallway and causes Jefferson to turn around.

A loud bang reverberates against the walls and a strong force pushes her to the ground. And then David’s screaming, telling Jefferson to put his gun down, and there’s another shot. She watches the man standing beside her fall, and notices blood pouring out from his chest.

“Chloe,” David yells, causing her to sit up and look over at him.

His eyes are cast down, and Chloe follows his gaze to the limp figure in his arms.

Max.

She quickly rises to her feet, ignoring the shooting pain going up her left leg from the crash, and stumbles over to them, then falls to her knees.

No.

This can’t be fucking happening.

David places the brunette next to Chloe and reluctantly tears his hand away from the bloodied clothing over Max’s abdomen. “Keep pressure on her wound,” he says, taking his phone out of his pocket and running out of the bunker. She does as she’s told and quickly presses a shaky hand on the same spot, but there’s a lot of blood, both on her shirt and the ground, and Chloe doesn’t think it’s going to help.

Tears are falling from her eyes, dripping on her hands and mingling with Max’s blood, and she barely notices Max looking up at her. “I did it, Chloe… I saved everyone.”

“You did,” Chloe whispers, forcing a smile on her face, because this may very well be the last time she ever sees her best friend and she wants her to know how goddamn proud she is of her. But inside, she wants to scream, because it wasn’t supposed to end like this.

It’s all David’s fucking fault for being so fucking loud, and Chloe doesn’t think she’ll ever be able to forgive him if Max doesn’t make it.

She momentarily looks over to Rachel, who’s still restrained in the chair, and notices that she’s starting to wake up. It tears Chloe in half, because she wants to run over and be with her, but Max needs her, and there’s no way she’s going to leave.

When she looks back down at Max, she notices the light quickly fading from her eyes, and Chloe grabs onto one of the brunette’s hands. “Max, look at me. Don’t you dare close your eyes,” she chokes out, watching her struggle to keep them open. Her hands are clammy and her lips are turning blue and she just doesn’t _look_ good. Chloe knows there isn’t much time left, and she doesn’t know what to do. “I’m not gonna lose you again.”

“I’m glad you were my partner in crime,” Max whispers right before she gives in to the darkness, and Chloe starts screaming for help.

Only seconds later, David comes rushing down with paramedics at his flank, and they push her out of the way.

It gets very chaotic in the matter of minutes, and all Chloe can do is stand there while policemen and firemen and paramedics rush around her. She stares at the blood on her hands, and then down to the puddle on the floor, and it dawns on her that there’s a huge possibility Max isn’t going to make it.

An officer eventually takes her outside and tries to coax her to talk and tell them what happened, but all of her senses grow numb as she watches the paramedics bring Max out on a stretcher, and rush her into an ambulance.

And then Rachel comes up the stairs and their eyes instantly meet. The blonde rushes towards her and molds herself into her tiny frame. A fresh wave of tears stream down Chloe’s cheeks, both from relief and desperation, and Rachel’s arms wrap around her tighter. “She’ll be okay,” she promises. “Max will be okay.”

Chloe nods, and then Rachel’s being pulled away by tall man, who she assumes is a paramedic, and is escorted into the ambulance.

“There’s room in the front seat if you want to ride with us,” another man says, and Chloe eagerly follows him to the vehicle.

After she straps on her seatbelt, everything around her fades. All she focuses on are the faint beeps from the machines Max is hooked up to, and she prays that they’ll make it before she hears it flatline.

Once they get to the hospital, nearly half a dozen nurses and doctors rush out of the automatic doors and quickly sweep her friends away, and all she can do is watch from a distance before a nurse comes and leads her over to the waiting room.

She wants to argue and say it’s bullshit that she can’t be with Rachel while she’s being examined, but she doesn’t have the energy to pick a fight. For once in her life, she’s tired of fighting.

When she sits down on one of the couches, she notices a little boy, who is no older than five, looking at her in horror and pointing at her clothes. Chloe glances down and notices that her once white shirt is now a deep crimson, and her hands are still coated in blood.

Max’s blood.

It instantly sends her into a deep panic once again.

Chloe gets up and runs to the bathroom, and goes over to one of the sinks. She turns the hot water on as high as it will go and begins frantically scrubbing her hands, but no matter how hard she rubs, and how hot the water is, it’s still not enough. It’s not enough to take away the memory of watching the life fade out of Max’s eyes while blood pours out of her wound. It’s not enough to mend the void in her chest at the thought of her never seeing her best friend again. It’s just not _enough_.

Tears sting at her eyes and pour down her face as she collapses to the ground. She brings her knees up and curls into the fetal position, unaware that someone else has entered the room. Next thing she knows, a nurse is kneeling next to her and placing a hand on her back.

“Come with me,” she says. “You’ll be able to visit your friend right after we run a few tests. But for now, we need to get you cleaned up, okay?” She holds out a hand and Chloe hesitantly takes it.

The nurse takes her back to the break room (which she’s pretty damn sure she’s not supposed to be in) and grabs a shirt out of a bag. It’s white and it has the hospital’s name written across the chest, and Chloe’s not sure she’s going to keep it after tonight, but it’ll do.

“Thanks,” she says quietly, and the nurse nods.

Once Chloe is done changing, she’s led down a long hallway and they eventually stop in front of a desk.

“Your friend is in room 104,” the nurse says, pointing to a room only a few feet away.  “I’ve been told that she’s been asking for you.”

Chloe swallows as she looks over at the glass door. “D-do you know if my other friend is okay?”

“All I know is that she’s still in surgery. I haven’t heard anything else yet,” she says gently, and Chloe’s gaze falls to the ground. “No news is normally good news, though. I’ll let you know when she gets transferred to a room.” The nurse places a hand on her shoulder, and gives her a small, warm smile before she turns to leave, and Chloe doesn’t waste any time in going over to Rachel’s room. But before she has the chance to grab the handle, Rachel slides the door open and nearly knocks her over as she runs into her arms.

A soft chuckle escapes as Chloe guides them back into the room. “Aren’t you supposed to be in bed?”

“Maybe,” Rachel answers, and pulls away to look up at her. “But I feel fine, and they’re working on my discharge papers as we speak. How’s Max?”

“I don’t know,” Chloe sighs. “She’s still in surgery.”

Rachel’s hand comes up to rest on the side of her cheek, and Chloe’s eyes fill with tears once again. “Max is strong. She’ll pull through,” the blonde says quietly, but firmly, and it’s almost enough to make her believe it.

It doesn’t take long for the doctor to come back with Rachel’s discharge papers, and he excuses them to go back out into the waiting room. But as they’re walking down the hall, they overhear a discussion between two nurses about one of their patients, and they quickly realize that the person they’re talking about is Frank.

Chloe’s relieved to hear that he’s alive, but she’s worried about what’s going to happen once all of this is over.

There’s no doubt in her mind that he’s probably going to be charged for selling the drugs.

And she doesn’t know how she feels about it.

 

* * *

 

 

Chloe and Rachel are cuddled up on one of the couches, sleeping under a hospital blanket one of the nurses brought out to them in the middle of the night when someone places a hand on Chloe’s shoulder, and when she opens her eyes, she’s met with the sight of a big, burly bearded man standing in front of her. It catches her off guard, and she blinks about a dozen times, but when she realizes who it is, she jumps up and gives him a hug.

“It’s nice to see you too, Chloe,” he says, letting out a small chuckle.

The sound of his deep voice and the smell of musk and pine emanating off his clothes brings back memories of when she and Max would spend Christmas Eve together on the couch with her family, the two of them snuggled under a blanket in the pajamas Ryan and Vanessa would buy them every year, watching every Christmas movie they could find. It brings a smile to her face, even though there are tears quickly coating her cheeks, and for the first time in what feels like forever, she actually starts to think everything’s going to be all right.

When Chloe finally pulls away, she notices a woman standing off to his left holding out her arms, and she immediately falls into her embrace.

“Have you heard anything yet?” Chloe asks as she steps back and looks up at them.

Ryan gives a curt nod, but his eyes look somber, and her heart starts racing as he opens his mouth. “She’s out of surgery, but she hasn’t woken up yet. They say she’s lucky to be alive.”

The relief that flows through her body almost sends her to her knees.

She turns around to see Rachel standing behind her, teary-eyed and smiling, and Chloe walks over and wraps her arms around her.

“I told you,” the blonde whispers, and a sob rips from Chloe’s chest. “Everything’s gonna be okay.”

As they sit and wait for another update, Max’s parents start asking questions, but Chloe and Rachel have a hard time trying to decide what to tell them. It’s not like they can really start from the beginning, and they haven’t had the chance to think about how they’re going to explain this to everyone else, so the two girls promise that they’ll have answers as soon as Max is ready to talk.

 

* * *

 

 

It isn’t until the sun starts to rise that a doctor emerges from the door, and they all sit upright as he walks over to them.

“How is she?” Vanessa asks, and he gives her a smile.

“Max still hasn’t woken up yet, but you’re more than welcome to go in and see her. We suggest that only two of you go in at a time, though.”

She looks over to Chloe and Rachel and gives them a weak smile. “These two lovely young ladies can go back first.” Chloe meets her gaze and opens her mouth to refuse, because they’re her _parents_ – they should be the ones going in first. But Vanessa shushes her with a stern look, and Rachel grabs her hand and forces her up.

They’re escorted down a long hallway, and through a set of double doors that leads to the ICU, and Chloe’s heart starts pounding in her chest.

A part of her doesn’t want to see Max in this state. She doesn’t know if she would be able to handle it, because the thoughts of her best friend lying on the ground, bleeding out in her arms replays in her head, and seeing the brunette almost lifeless as she lies in a hospital bed is probably going to send her into another breakdown. But then the other part of her needs to see for herself that Max is okay – that she’s stable and breathing. That she’s still _here_.

Before she has the chance to figure out if she actually wants to go through with this, they’re stopping in front of a room and the doctor is sliding the glass door open, and all Chloe can do is stand there as the curtain is being pushed aside.

She swallows back the lump in her throat as she takes in the sight.

There’s cords everywhere – hooked up all over Max’s small frame, and it reminds her how serious this all is. It makes Chloe wonder if there’s still any possibility that she might not make it, but she’s too afraid to ask.

Ignorance is bliss.

Rachel grabs her hand and pulls her inside, and they quickly find their way over to the bed.

“I’ll be right outside,” the doctor says quietly before he leaves and closes the door behind him.

She takes a seat in one of the chairs and looks up at Max’s face. She looks peaceful – angelic, almost, and it causes Chloe to release a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding on to.

In the corner of her eye, she sees Rachel reaching for one of Max’s hands, and when she looks over at her, she notices a tears running down her cheeks.

“It’s my fault,” she says quietly. “All of this is my fault.”

Chloe shakes her head and places a hand on Rachel’s leg. “No, it’s not,” she says firmly, but she can tell by the look on the blonde’s face that this is something she’s going to blame herself for, for the rest of her life. Rachel stays silent, but it’s obvious that there’s a lot on her mind, and probably a lot that she wants to say. It’s something they’ll talk about later on - after Max wakes up and after they’ve had a proper amount of sleep. Chloe knows there isn’t much she can do right now to make her realize that she shouldn’t blame herself for what happened, so she leans over and kisses the side of the blonde’s head, and laces their fingers together once again before she turns back to her best friend.

It’s quite for a while, as they sit there and watch Max’s chest rise and fall and listen to the machines around them beep, and it’s hard to tell how much time passes by. Chloe knows they have to go soon, and the thought of leaving the brunette’s side causes her heart to ache.

After a moment, Chloe scoots her chair a little closer and reaches out to rest her free hand on Max’s arm, and glances up at her. “I, uh…” She clears her throat, feeling a little awkward with someone else sitting in the room. “I never thanked you for pulling me off the edge. So, uh, thanks.” Chloe tightens her grip and little and takes a deep breath. “Maybe when you wake up, and all of this is over, the three of us can go on a road trip or something. We can hit up some art galleries and find hella cool places for you to take pictures –”

“Chlo,” Rachel mutters, and Chloe looks over to see Max’s hand twitching within the blonde’s grasp. A quiet groan comes from beside her, and Chloe’s gaze darts back up to see the brunette’s eyes fluttering open. She nearly jumps out of her chair at the sight, and she has to stop herself from throwing herself on the bed to hug her.

“Max,” she whispers, and blinks away the tears forming in her eyes.

The brunette looks over and smiles weakly. “We did it.”

**Author's Note:**

> Alright guys... let me know what you think! But please keep in mind that this is the first fic I've written in almost a year, so please be gentle. xx
> 
> I'm definitely going to turn this into a series. There's still a lot of the story left to tell. :)


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